BioCrossroads Names Venture Competition Finalists

The winners will be announced next month at the Indiana Life Sciences Summit.

Indiana’s life sciences initiative has named the finalists for its fifth annual New Venture Competition. BioCrossroads says the six finalists will compete for cash prizes next month during the 2016 Indiana Life Sciences Summit.

BioCrossroads says, over the last four years, the New Venture Competition has awarded more than $240,000 to 16 startups, leading to $21 million in follow-up funding.

The competition was open to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, ag-biotech and health information technology companies with strong Indiana ties and high potential for follow-up funding. Out of more than 30 applicants, BioCrossroads has selected six finalists:

Daylight OB, a medical device company developing technology to improve health and safety in labor and delivery units
Rubicon Agriculture, which makes hydroponic growing facilities out of shipping containers
Rusher Medical, which has developed a portable expiratory pressure therapy device called the Rusher Valve
Scioto Biosciences, which develops medicines to support microbiome health
VinSense, which develops software that helps wine growers make better decisions based on real-time data
Xylogenics, which uses synthetic biology to create products enabling sustainable chemical production

The winner will receive a cash prize of $25,000 and access to the Indiana Seed Fund II staff and network of resources.

The 2016 Indiana Life Sciences Summit is set for October 4.